Providing for Consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2028, Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016, and Providing for Consideration of S. 612, George P...

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her superior service on the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, across America today, hardworking people and seniors find that their retirement security is under threat and in doubt.

Congress has a responsibility to strengthen Americans' retirement security, and we dishonor that responsibility with the half measure for coal miners in the CR today--less than a half measure.

I commend Congressman Cartwright of Pennsylvania. He knows full well the contribution that the coal miners have made to our economy. He knows the stress that they are under from what is happening now and how this is exacerbated by the continuing resolution.

Mr. Speaker, 22,500 coal miners in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and across coal country are facing a complete loss of their health and pension benefits in 2017. However, the continuing resolution offers these men and women only a short term.

Senator Manchin has been making the pitch, and many of us have joined him, that these health and pension benefits should be in our legislation at least for 5 years, preferably in perpetuity.

What the CR says is: not in perpetuity, not in 5 years--for 4 months; for 4 months and only health benefits, completely ignoring the pension part of it.

Coal miners are on the Hill today to make their case, to tell their personal stories about how this has affected them. After a lifetime of service and in a culture built around that industry, they trusted that their pension and their health benefits would be there. But their companies went bankrupt.

Think of this, my colleagues. If you, anyone in your family, or any of your constituents were working a lifetime in a company, in an industry, and that company went bankrupt, and the answer to you is: Tough luck. We went bankrupt. Your pension went down the drain.

It is absolutely criminal. It is absolutely criminal.

The CR offers a short-term, 4-month patch for health care and leaves the miners worse off in April than they are now.

I thank Senator Manchin for taking the lead in such a forceful way, and I thank Matt Cartwright for leading us here.

In hope that we could defeat this rule, I urge my Republican colleagues who are from coal country in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia--and coal country goes beyond. Virginia is one of the biggest coal-producing States, though you might not realize it. The CR does nothing, does nothing to solve the critical pension problem that threatens the future of these miners and their families.

With our previous question, Democrats, led by Congressman Cartwright, are calling on Republicans to do better. We should be voting on commonsense, bipartisan legislation that would give miners in coal country the peace of mind of knowing that their retirements that they worked for all their lives are secure.

Mr. McKinley of West Virginia, a Republican, has led the way with the Miners Protection Act. It is a bipartisan bill. It has 87 cosponsors, and we would like to defeat this rule so that we can bring up Mr. McKinley's Miners Protection Act.

The bipartisan bill would transfer funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet existing legislation under the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the United Mine Workers 1974 pension plan to prevent its insolvency.
The funds are there. They just need to be transferred. Mr. McKinley's bill does that.

Make certain retirees who lose healthcare benefits following the bankruptcy or insolvency of his or her employer eligible for benefits.

As these families head toward the holiday season, we must ensure they can celebrate knowing that the health and pension benefits they earned--they have earned--will always be there for them.

I was disappointed that, in the CR, we did not have an extender for some renewable initiatives, renewable alternatives. But we were told by the Speaker's Office that our guys are fossil fuel guys. They are not interested in the renewables.

Okay. I respect that. If you are fossil fuel guys, why aren't you looking out for the fossil fuel people who have worked under dangerous circumstances for their lives, going into unsafe situations, breathing air that has created problems for their health, and now the companies have declared bankruptcy or insolvency. Tough luck for the workers.

Mr. McKinley knows that is not right. That is why he introduced the bill. Mr. Cartwright knows that is not right. That is why he is supporting the bill. And that is why Democrats come to the floor today to urge Republicans to express their concern for their constituents in the fossil fuel industry to do justice to them for the service they have provided for the benefits, pension, and health care they are entitled to.

So we will see what the commitment is of the Republicans in Congress to the fossil fuel guys and gals. We will see on their vote here today.

Vote ``no'' on the bill so we can vote ``yes'' on the McKinley Miners Protection Act.

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